Catch Up

First of all, happy new year! :)

Second of all, there will be a lot of pictures here! I haven't blogged in about 2 1/2 months, so this will be the reader's digest version. I'm afraid if I don't just get some catch-up posted, I might keep putting it off and never get around to blogging again!

Penelope got her bottom two teeth the weekend she turned 4 months. The week before they popped out Andrew went out of town for work so I got to deal with my poor little teething baby who refused to sleep and my poor little attention starved 2 year old. Sounds like fun, right?

Being 4 months and having teeth means we get to start baby food. Here's PP giving it a whirl.

Here's our attempt at a Christmas picture in front of our tree...yes, this is the best one we got!

The next few pictures basically sum up how you can find Eleanor most times of the day - with lots of accessories and junks!

I wish this next one wasn't so blurry, because I think it is priceless...

This is after Penelope's teeth were in and she was back to her sweet smiley self.

The following week we were on our way to St. Louis to spend Christmas at my sisters house with my mom and all my siblings and nieces and nephews. Here's Eleanor in the backseat of our new minivan we got the day before leaving. Andrew's car wasn't going to last much longer, so we decided to trade it in while it was still worth something. Now I'm sporting a Toyota Sienna. Woop woop! It made the trip very doable! Eleanor was (and is still) so excited to ride in it. I think she loves being up high and able to see everything.

Here are all the grandkids minus one on Christmas Eve in their new PJ's

Here's our little family. On a side note, Andrew got the worst haircut of his life earlier in the day, so don't mind his military-mohawk haircut :)

I'm afraid this won't be the last time I see my kids pull each others hair. Penelope looks very sneaky, not to mention very drooly, in this picture :)

As luck would have it, my camera died on Christmas morning and I didn't bring a charger. Here are some family pictures we took with the whole clan once my sister Emily arrived on Christmas night.

Mom and the kiddies.

Mom and her 7 kids.

Just us...
(Eleanor is still working on her picture-taking skills)

It was so fun to be with my mom and all my siblings. And it was especially fun to see my girls with their cousins. It makes me sad that we all live so far apart!

We stayed in St. Louis almost a week and broke up our trip to and from with visits to Children's museums in Indianapolis (on the way there), and Dayton (on the way back). Eleanor was able to get some of her energy out and it was fun to see new places!

We also stopped at a Walmart at some point and got some good footage. Eleanor grabbed a plunger and was walking with it like it was a cane...I'm not really sure where she learned that?


Luckily when we got back home all our snow had melted (yesss!), which made it a little easier to return back to reality. BUT the above-freezing temperatures didn't last long and we've been staring at several inches of snow outside ever since.

We celebrated the new year by staying home, ordering pizza and getting a redbox!

We've been spending most of our days lately in our pajamas and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Tinkerbell, or doing any of the following....

Playing with Christmas presents

Coloring or painting (Eleanor's newest hobby)

Helping mom feed the baby. She actually did a really good job. I had set Penelope up in the high chair and was in the kitchen making rice cereal and I came out to find Eleanor already feeding Penelope. Here's a video.

Being really cute

Humoring mom by taking a sister picture

Stealing dad's glasses

Trying to steal mom's drink

Dressing up in a "princess dress"/nightgown and dancing to "princess music"/Carrie Underwood

Putting on any/all princess paraphernalia and sneaking mom's blush and putting so much on that you look like you have a sunburn

Being cute some more

Penelope has also been a little scooty bug. She is trying to crawl already! She can sit up now and she has been rolling both ways for a couple of months now. Here's a video of her in action.

When we got back from St. Louis we did some sleep training with Penelope and it's gone really well. I think all that time away from her own crib made it easier for her to fall asleep on her own once we got home. She's finally on a somewhat of a schedule - She wakes up around 7-7:30 am, she naps around 9:00 am for an hour or two, naps again around 1:00 pm for about 2 hours, and is in bed by about 6-6:30. She sometimes wakes up one more time to eat before we go to bed, and then gets up one more time around 4:00 am, then back to sleep until 7 or 7:30 am. It makes life so much better once babies have a more predictable schedule.

And here's one more video of Penelope and a new little trick she's picked up.


Andrew's still working full-time and taking classes part-time. He only has classes on Monday nights this semester, but they go until 11:30 at night. We decided we'd rather that than have him gone 3 nights a week. It's also made Wednesday nights a breeze because I don't have to take the girls with me to Young Women's. Well, I think that about sums things up. Now I'm off to watch the Bachelor and wait for Andrew to get home from class.

Penny Pie is 3 months! (aka picture overload)

Before I bombard you with pictures of Penelope, I thought I'd give Eleanor the spotlight for a minute. She is the cutest big sister you'll ever meet! She is so sweet to Penelope. She holds her hand when we're driving in the car and moves the sun shade thing on her carseat if it's too "ight" (bright), she reassures her with "ohhh it's k" when she's crying, she bring her toys, she tries to share her snacks, when she hears her crying on the baby monitor she lets me know "it's the baby", she climbs in her crib with her to keep her company, and she always wants to include her in our dance parties.


One night after her bath and jammies, she insisted she put on her boots, her belt, sunglasses, and an old hat. And if that wasn't enough, she found her swimsuits and wore them as purses. I wish I had a clearer picture, but you have to have a glimpse of my fashion forward child :) She just cracks me up when she likes to accessorize like this, because I have no idea where she gets it from. The only accessories I own are earrings!

Ok, now on to Penelope, or "P-P" as Eleanor calls her. At some point we'll probably have to nix that nickname. I don't think Penelope will like it very much. On the eve of her 3 month birthday she decided it would be a good time to roll over. (Eleanor first rolled over when she was 2 1/2 months old. Why do my children have such an urgency to be on the go!?!) It's fun to compare their differences and similarities. For example, Penelope doesn't get nearly as frustrated as Eleanor did when she's trying to roll over, but once she rolls over, she gets pretty irritated that she's stuck on her stomach, while Eleanor was thrilled to be on her tummy.
Here's Eleanor on the move:

And Penelope:

(And I just realized they were wearing the same little nightgown when they first rolled!)

Penelope is much more dainty when she shoves her hands in her mouth...
Eleanor:

Penelope:


I love my babies and watching them grow everyday and learning about their personalities!

Now, join me for an afternoon with Penelope...






Victory!





Uh-oh, I'm stuck!

This is after I rolled her back over...doesn't she have the best surprised face?

Trunk or Treat, Grandparents, and a Baby Blessing

On Wednesday we had our ward trunk or treat. Eleanor was a ladybug (last year's after Halloween $2.50 special at Big Lots). Unfortunately this is the best picture I could get of her before we left...

Andrew had night class and I had to help with the Beehive's cookie decorating booth and face painting booth so I was worried things might get out of control with Eleanor and Penelope. Luckily things went pretty smoothly. I think Eleanor was a little spooked out by everyone in costumes so she basically stood by me the whole time. It also helped that she could just sit at the little table and shake sprinkles on her cookie to her heart's delight and then lick them off. And Penelope was a trooper, she just sat in her carseat and took in all the sights. Andrew showed up just in time to take Eleanor trunk or treating while I cleaned up. Eleanor was so excited to fill her pumpkin bucket with candy.

On Friday Andrew's parents drove up from North Carolina. On Saturday morning Eleanor was excited to see them and show off all her tricks...
Like feeding and burping her baby

and playing with her train tracks


The girls with Grandpa Doug

and Nana (check out Eleanor's size 8 feet!!)

On Saturday we headed off to explore another pumpkin patch. They had cute little crafts to look at and a treehouse to play in. As you can tell by our attire, the cold weather is here to stay!


On Sunday we blessed Penelope at church. She was born on Friday the 13th and blessed on Halloween - spooooky. I thought about painting her nails black but Andrew wouldn't let. Here's our obligatory inside the church foyer, after baby blessing, end of church, past naptime photo op :)

And here's our precious little Penelope.





Does it get any cuter than this??